Tennis 2020 Tokyo Olympic Review

Men’s Singles

Double defending champion Andy Murray (Great Britain) withdrew due to an injury. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) was the heavy favourite, looking to set up a Golden Slam. He reached the semi-finals, without dropping a set. In the quarter-final, he defeated national hero Kei Nishikori (Japan) who had upset Andrey Rublev (Russia), the fifth seed, in the opening round. In the semi-final, he came up against Alexander Zverev (Germany). In the third quarter, the highest seeds were Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece). They were both beaten in the third round by Karen Khachanov (Russia) and Ugo Humbert (France), with Khachanov going on to win that quarter. It was the two seeds in the bottom quarter who made the quarter-final. Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) defeated Daniil Medvedev (Russia) in straight sets. In the semi-final, it was Khachanov with the straight sets win, getting revenge for his compatriot. Djokovic took a 6-1 first-set win against Zverev and seemed primed to cruise home. Instead, Zverev only lost four games throughout the rest of the match. Novak went into the bronze place playoff but was upset by Carreno Busta. Having taken down Djokovic, Zverev was not going to be stopped. He only allowed four games to Khachanov.

🥇Alexander Zverev 🇩🇪

🥈Karen Khachanov 🇷🇺

🥉Pablo Carreno Busta 🇪🇸

Men’s Doubles

The top quarter was headlined by Mektic/Pavic (Croatia). They overcame Musetti/Sonego (Italy) in a super tiebreak before beating McLachlan/Nishikori (Japan) to make the medal matches. Seeds in the second quarter, Karatsev/Medvedev (Russia) and Hurkacz/Kubot (Poland) were both eliminated in the opening round. It was Krajicek/Sandgren (United States) who came through. Cabal/Farah (Colombia) were seeded in the third quarter, but aided by a walkover Daniell/Venus (New Zealand), beat them in a super tiebreak. Herbert/Mahut (France) were the second seeds but were knocked out by Murray/Salisbury (Great Britain). The Brits lost out in a super tiebreak to Dodig/Cilic (Croatia) in the quarter-final. Both the Croatian pairs won by straight sets to make the final. It was the seeded pair of Mektic/Pavic who prevailed,10-6 in a super tie break. The pair from New Zealand claimed bronze in a straight set victory.

🥇Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic 🇭🇷

🥈Ivan Dodig/Marin Cilic 🇭🇷

🥉Marcus Daniell/Michael Venus 🇳🇿

Women’s Singles

This became a very open contest as Ashleigh Barty (Australia) and Naomi Osaka (Japan) both failed to make deep runs in the event. Barty lost in the opening round to Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain). The two highest remaining seeds in the top quarter met in the third round with Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) beating Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) and going on to win the quarter. The second quarter was headlined by Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), but she was eliminated by Donna Vekic (Croatia). In turn, she was defeated by Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan), who then beat seventh seed Gaborone Muguruza (Spain). Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) was taken to three sets on several occasions but headed into the semi-finals as favourite. She faced Marina Vondrousova (Czech Republic) who beat Osaka. Bencic won her semi-final with a 6-4 victory in the final set. In the other semi-final, Vondrousova continued her upsets with a straight-set victory over Svitolina. Svitolina again went to three sets and managed to get a 6-4 final set victory to claim bronze. In the gold medal match, Bencic won 7-5 2-6 6-3.

🥇Belinda Bencic 🇨🇭

🥈Marina Vondrousova 🇨🇿

🥉Elina Svitolina 🇺🇦

Women’s Doubles

Krejcikova/Siniakova (Czech Republic) were the number one seeds and although they needed a couple of super tiebreaks, they won their quarter. Bertens/Schuurs (Netherlands) were expected to be the main challengers in their half, but were defeated in a super tiebreak by Kudermetova/Vesnina (Russia) who won the quarter. Both the seeds in the third quarter were beaten by Pigossi/Stefani (Brazil). In the bottom quarter, both Chan/Chan (Taiwan) and Aoyama/Shibahara (Japan), the seeded pairs, were eliminated in the opening round. It was Bencic/Golubic (Switzerland) who beat the Japanese pair and went on to win the quarter. Bencic continued her incredible tournament, reaching the doubles finals with a straight-set victory. In the final, they came up against the Czech seeds, who had won a super tiebreak 10-6. In the bronze medal play off the Brazilians overcame Russia in a super tie break, winning 11-9. Bencic could not make it a double gold, as the Russian pair were able to win in straight sets.

🥇Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova 🇨🇿

🥈Belinda Bencic/Viktorija Golubic 🇨🇭

🥉Laura Pigossi/Luisa Stefani 🇧🇷

Mixed Doubles

Mladenovic/Mahut (France) were the number one seeds but were knocked out in straight sets in the opening round by Vesnina/Karatsev (Russia). The number three seeds, Mattek-Sands/Ram (United States), were beaten by Stojanovic/Djokovic (Serbia) in straight sets. The fourth seeds Pavlyuchenkova/Rublev (Russia) made it through to the semi-finals, winning two matches in super tie breaks. In the semis, they came up against Barty/Peers (Australia) who beat Sakkari/Tsitsipas (Greece). Djokovic suffered another loss in the semi-final, going out in straight sets to Vesnina/Karatsev. The other semi came down to a super tie break, where the Russians prevailed13-11. After his defeats in the singles, Novak Djokovic pulled out of the bronze medal match, handing the medal to the Australians. The final between the Russian pairs came down to a super tie break, with Pavlyuchenkova/Rublev (Russia) winning 13-11.

🥇Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Andrey Rublev 🇷🇺

🥈Elena Vesnina/Aslan Karatsev 🇷🇺

🥉Ashleigh Barty/John Peers 🇦🇺